I Will Remember You
by Chocolate Chip Cookie
Summary: Mr. Bennett, upon dying, left Lizzie letters that helped her through her life, through tears, joy, and success. But What happens when a certain William Darcy strolls into her life and her father's letters become more and more confusing?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey guys! This is my new story, and I'm hoping to stick with this. I love pride and prejudice, they're actually my favorite stories to read on Fanfiction.

So please read and review. The more reviews I get, the faster I'll update. (hopefully, haha)

Disclaimer: The wonderful characters that you recognize in this story all belong to Jane Austen. (Unfortunately, that includes the very hot British William Darcy)

___

Chapter One

_Lizzie-Bear,_

_Since you're reading this letter, I must assume that I have passed on. First and foremost, I have to say that I'm so proud of you. You've grown up to me quite the young woman, and you've had so many accomplishments. You're the perfect daughter, even if you are quite stubborn and obnoxious at times, I would never ask you to change. I love you with all my heart, and I hope that you succeed in life. I know you will, actually. You'll take whatever industry you wish to work at by storm, and I'm confident that you'll make me even prouder. I have no worries about your future, my dear. _

_The only regret that I have is that I won't be able to walk you down the aisle, or see your children. I've always worried that you'd get hurt. That's why I never encouraged your mother in her blind dates. In a way, I was still trying to shelter you and watch over you. I admit, no one seemed good enough for my little girl, but I realize that you're not my little girl anymore. You are quite capable of taking care of yourself. _

_But still, a father can try. That's why I'm writing this letter, you see. I don't want to stop looking after you, even though I've gone. Because you'll always be my little girl, and I still wish to watch you. Don't be mad at me for trying, but I have written other letters for you with my advice, in case you need me. They'll be sent to you periodically, as my way of taking care of you. _

_I love you. _

_-Daddy_

Tears stained her eyes and fell onto the paper as Lizzie read the letter that was left to her after her father's death. It had surprised her, her father was always the health freak, and him dying of a heart attack shocked her to the core.

But she smiled sadly as she reread the letter once more. It certainly did sound like her father, always protective, never wanting to let go. She remembered that at her high school prom, he questioned her date for almost an hour before Lizzie suggested that they leave.

And her father, dear, sweet Steven Bennett, left, but she knew that he was watching over her. And she knew that whatever letters that were left for her would have words of wisdom that Lizzie would listen to, for even though Mr. Bennett was fun and laid back, he was a very wise man and a great father.

She would wait for those letters.

___________

_Three Years Later_

There are many times in life when you wonder why the hell it is that you do what you do. Take school for example. Why the hell do you drag your ass up everyday and learn from professors that seem to hate their jobs as much as you hate listening to them?

Elizabeth Bennett was having one of those moments where you wonder why on earth was she here, of all places, listening to her mother lecture her on and on about getting a boyfriend when she could be enjoying her spring break going to concerts or hanging with her guy-friends playing football or basketball. Or maybe whooping their asses in running. Her endurance training in college helped loads when competing against them in cross country.

Hell, she's rather stick pins in her eyes.

Frannie Bennett was not the most affectionate mother. She spent her time criticizing Lizzie's "nonexistent curves" and "boyish attitude."

But of course, she remembered the latest letter that she had received from her father.

_Listen to your mother. She may be silly and yell a lot (trust me, I know), but she only wishes the best for you. _

Lizzie was a 5'3 brunette with hazel eyes. Not a striking beauty, especially when standing next to her older sister, Jane. Her sister had the model looks, skinny, blonde hair, blue eyes, and a great mind. She was sweet and never judged people, which was pretty much the opposite of Lizzie.

Which brings us back to why Frannie Bennett liked to nag to Lizzie about why she should be more like her sister, Jane.

The loud giggles of her younger sisters, Kate and Lydia, increased the buzzing headache she was getting from listening to her mother.

"Mother! Mother! Come see!"

Lizzie resisted the urge to roll her eyes at them. It was probably another gossip magazine about some teenage heartthrob. Who was their last obsession? The Jonas Brothers? Ryan Sheckler?

A loud squeal from her mom threw Lizzie out of her thoughts. Yes, she definitely needed to take a trip to the nearest pharmacy and get her something to help the huge headache she was getting. She hated Jane at this moment for being smart and bailing on her so she could spend time with her girlfriends from high school.

"Edward! Edward!" Frannie yelled. Lizzie did roll her eyes this time when her sisters once again burst out in giggles, laughing about how their stepfather's name was the same as the fictional character, Edward Cullen.

Her father, a 60-year-old man, stepped out of his office, eyeglasses still perched on his nose. "What is it Frannie?" He asked, anxious to get back to work. His eyes crinkled at the corner as he smiled at Lizzie.

Elizabeth was definitely Edward Robinson's favorite stepdaughter. He would never admit it in front of anyone though.

Lizzie's father had died her freshmen year of college, and she had never gotten over it. Her parents had been divorced, and Lizzie always looked forward to visiting her father in San Francisco. He was a successful businessman, and he loved Lizzie dearly. She always remembered sitting with him on his porch and eating ice cream as a child, and they would spend hours debating on politics or other important topics.

Yes, Steven Bennett's death had affected Lizzie more than she would admit, but Edward, whom Frannie had married 4 years before Steven Bennett's death, was there to help Lizzie. They hadn't gotten along at first, Lizzie's stubbornness often getting in the way, but now, she looked to him as a father, even though she still missed Steven Bennett terribly.

"The Netherfield house in the other neighborhood has finally been bought!"

"And this involves us, how?" Lizzie inquired.

The twins, as Lizzie liked to call them, for Kate and Lydia were closest to twins as you could get without looking alike, threw a glare towards Lizzie's direction.

"The _man _that bought the house is _young _and _single_." Kate sneered.

"This _young _and _single _man is too _old _for you." Lizzie threw back.

Kate stuck her tongue out. Lizzie caught her stepfather's eye and shook her head. She would never understand Kate or Lydia. They were the biggest flirts she's ever seen, and only at 15! She suspected it was the influence of Frannie Bennett, after all, she highly doubted that her stepfather participated with them in the gossip meetings they had.

"Say something Edward!" Frannie demanded, her shrill voice echoed through the house.

"That's nice, dear." Edward said before retreating back to his office.

"Wait! We simply must introduce ourselves. I'm sure he'd be interested in one of the girls. Perhaps Jane! They will think us very rude and uncivilized if we do not. Are you listening to me Edward? I said we should-"

"I already have dear." He yelled from his office.

"What? And when were you going to tell us about this?"

"At the party."

"What party?" The twins inquired, eyes sparkling.

"The party this weekend at Netherfield that we were invited to."

Edward could say no more, for the whole house was filled with squeals and giggles.

Lizzie cringed. Grabbing her keys, she walked out the house.

She really needed some Tylenol.

_____

The hum of her motorcycle was comforting and helped her headache.

She smirked when a car honked at her when she cut them off.

Ah, the benefits of a motorcycle. She could fit in small spaces and it used less gas. Good for the environment.

Lizzie parked in the very back of the parking lot and made her way slowly towards the store, enjoying the warmth of the sun. By the time Lizzie got to the pharmacy, her headache had diminished. Grabbing a bottle of Tylenol anyways; God knows that she would need it before the week was over since she was staying at her parent's house, she made her way to the counter to check out.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket.

**Game of B-ball? **

**9 in morn. See ya there. Get ready to lose. **

**-C**

She smirked. She quickly got a pack of Gatorade.

As Lizzie drove back home, she frowned as she realized that tomorrow would probably be the day that her mother forced her to go shopping with her annoying sisters.

That was going to be a problem.

_____

Lizzie quickly changed into a t-shirt and basketball shorts and snuck downstairs, stealing a bagel and a piece of toast. Her mother was going to be up soon, seeing as she needed the whole day to buy dresses for the girls, and Lizzie was definitely not looking forward to it. She was 21 and perfectly capable of getting a dress for herself, thank you very much.

"Where do you think you're going Lizzie?"

Lizzie jumped as she realized that she'd been caught.

"Hey daddy." She said sweetly.

"You're going to try and escape again, aren't you?"

She smiled, grabbing two bottles of Gatorade.

"Don't be too long. You know how your mother is." He said before leaving the kitchen.

Lizzie slipped into her Nikes and prepared for the 3 mile run to the basketball court. She hadn't run in a while, after all, her season had been over for a month in college. It was her father that would bring her to the park and run with her during middle school, when she felt like getting some extra training in. She'd missed this. It was definitely something that she felt connected her with her father.

It felt good to be out of the house, headphones in her eyes and feet beating against the cement sidewalk. As Jack's Mannequin blasted in her ear, she couldn't help but smile as she felt the familiar burn in her muscles during exercise. No mother yelling in her ear, no annoying sisters bugging her to let them borrow her shoes, no homework, no gossip, just her.

It was refreshing and Lizzie began to wonder why she hadn't run at all this week. She winced as she remembered the four hour shopping trip she had been tricked into going to; her sister, Jane, although very sweet, knew exactly how to convince her to come along. She had led her on with promises buying ice cream for the rest of the year in college; they were dorm mates after all, and Lizzie was a big fan of ice cream. And then the next day her mother insisted that they spend family time together, which only resulted in a big temper tantrum by the twins. And then on Wednesday Lizzie had to finish a paper, and by the time she was done, the twins dragged her shoe shopping. All in all, the spring break wasn't going as planned.

Lizzie turned her Ipod as she entered the basketball court. She chugged a bottle of Gatorade and shot it at the trash can.

"Good shot smalls." A familiar voice said from behind her.

She whirled around.

"Chase!" She ran towards him and tackled him.

"Eww Liz. You're all sweaty."

Lizzie smirked. "Afraid to get sweaty?"

"Don't worry. I just hope you didn't get too worn out by your run. I don't want to whip your ass to badly."

"You've never been able to do that." Lizzie replied, patting his cheek. "Wait, maybe that one time when I was sick and we were 10… wait nope. I still kicked your scrawny ass."

"Aww, that hurts Liz. It really does. My heart is bleeding."

"Oh cry me a river Chase." She smirked as she threw the ball at his chest.

"No, no, ladies first."

Lizzie raised an eyebrow. "Then you should get the ball."

"Ha. Ha. You're hilarious. I'm laughing my ass off inside. Really."

"Just dribble the ball Chase."

The game began, both of them not letting up. Lizzie stole the ball from Chase, her 5'3 frame maneuvered easily around his 6'1 body. She feinted towards the right, then went for the basket. The ball went towards the basket, and Lizzie was sure that it would make it… until Chase's hand appeared and knocked it right before it was going to go in.

He smirked at her. "Is that all you've got."

She growled and chased after him.

The game went on for an hour; both of them caught in a stalemate.

"You've gotten better Ganey." Lizzie said, gasping to catch her breath on the ground.

"Not bad for a shrimp Bennett." She smirked to find that he was sprawled on the ground next to her, equally exhausted.

"How about we call it a day? My mother is probably popping a vein because I'm MIA. She'll probably call the police soon."

"Nah, she's probably planning the party. She's probably elated that you've finally left."

Lizzie chucked the ball at Chase's head, missing by a good 2 feet.

"You're aim sucks."

"So do your free-throws."

"You smell bad." Chase threw back.

"Compared to you, I smell like a field of roses."

They looked at each other, and then threw their heads back in laughter.

Lizzie missed this. Chase Ganey had been her best friend since elementary school, ever since she had punched him in the face for stealing Jane's crayons. At the time, no one would've thought that they'd become the best of friends, but a week after the incident, Chase started to follow Lizzie around like a lost puppy.

But what had started out like a crush turned into a great friendship, and now they were like the brother or sister they never had.

And so whenever Lizzie was back in town, or if Chase decided to stop by New York, they'd get together and play some good old-fashioned basketball or football, or whatever sport they felt like playing.

The sound of a car locking caused Lizzie to snap her head up. She saw two men dressed in workout clothes. She blinked.

"Chase." She whispered. Chase merely grunted. "Chase." She nudged him. "Chase!" She kicked him.

"Ouch! What?" He looked up.

"Oh! Hey Bingley. What's up bud?" He said, standing up and patting his friend on the back.

Lizzie got up and stood behind Chase, awkwardly. Lizzie hated meeting other people's friends. She never knew what to do with herself.

She looked over at the other man next to the redhead. He seemed to be doing the same thing. Their eyes met, and Lizzie smiled brightly at him.

He merely looked away.

She looked over at the redhead, who smiled. "Who's this?" he asked.

Chase grabbed her, putting his arm around her neck and messing up her hair.

"Leggo of me Chase!" She squealed.

"This little shrimp here is Lizzie."

Lizzie growled as she got out of his grasp.

"This little shrimp can kick Chase's ass in sports."

"Hey! We agreed it was a tie!" Chase complained.

Lizzie smirked, sticking her tongue out like the mature adult she was. "That's what you think."

The redhead shook her hand. "I'm Charles Bingley, but you can call me Charlie. This is Will Darcy. " The man next to Charles nodded towards them.

"Now that we've introduced ourselves," Chase exclaimed, throwing his arm around Lizzie, "Who's up for a game of b-ball? Two on two."

____

15 minutes later, Lizzie and Chase were getting their asses kicked. Maybe it was because Lizzie and Chase clashed too much. They fought like an old bickering couple. They even collided into each other a few times.

How you ask? Well, the ball was flying towards Bingley, when both members decided to try and steal the ball. They both lunged at it… _at the same time. _Ouch.

Lizzie and Chase _definitely _didn't make a good team.

"Hey Bingley! That's not fair! You and Will are on a team, and all I have is this scrawny short kid!"

Lizzie punched him in the arm.

"Have I ever told you that you punch like a girl, Lizzie?" Chase asked.

Lizzie scowled at him. "Yes."

"Well I was kidding." Chase said, rubbing his arm tenderly. "That hurt! Geez Lizzie! I need that arm."

"Want me to kiss it?" She teased.

"Yes."

Lizzie laughed. "Dream on."

She looked over at Will, who seemed to be watching the scene with her and Chase with interest. He noticed she saw him and immediately put an emotionless mask on.

"So what do you suggest, Chase?" Lizzie asked. "Change teams?"

"Yes! Charles! You're on my team!"

Lizzie rolled her eyes and sauntered over to Will. "Looks like I'm on your team now. Let's kick their asses, okay?"

Will merely nodded.

The game began again, and Lizzie was shocked to admit that Will was a great player. Not just a great player. He was amazing. She and him were in perfect sync, whenever Will was caught in a corner, Lizzie was open, and vice versa. And get this, they didn't collide with each other. _Not once. _

She and Will made mincemeat of the other team.

An hour and half later, Lizzie ran a victory lap around the court; laughing and taunting Chase while he was pouting like a little puppy.

"Sorry Chase." Charlie laughed. "Looks like Lizzie and Will make a great team."

Lizzie ran over to Will, raising her hand for a high five. He gave her a half-hearted high five.

_Fine. Jerk. _She thought, brushing it off.

Lizzie finished the rest of her Gatorade and checked her phone.

She winced. _You have 6 missed calls. _

She braced herself as she called her voicemail. She looked over towards Chase with a painful expression.

Chase gave her a thumbs up.

_I hate you. _She mouthed, in which Chase made a heart with his hands.

_First message, sent today at 9:30 AM. _

_ELIZABETH BENNETT! Where are you? I woke this morning to find that you are GONE. Do you not realize that there's a big party this weekend in which you could find RICH and ELIGIBLE men? Do you have no plans for your future? Do you not want to get married or have children?_

Lizzie held her phone away from her ear and winced. She could still hear her mother yelling into the phone.

She heard loud laughter coming from across the court and found Chase laughing his arse off. Bingley was chuckling and sent an apologetic look at her when she saw him. Will Darcy was standing their, stoic and unmoving.

_I expect you to come home RIGHT NOW._

Click.

_Second message, sent today at 9:41_

_WHERE ARE YOU? It's already 9:40!_

Click.

_Third message, sent today at 9:45_

Lizzie cringed and deleted the rest of the messages.

"Well, looks like I have to run. My mother's insane." She sighed, waving to the group and grabbing her Ipod.

A hand on her shoulder made her jump as she was just about to take off.

She turned around, only to find herself face to face with Mr. Black-hair-blue-eyes Darcy.

She was so surprised that she choked on her spit. (A/N: I do that a lot)

"Yes?" Lizzie inquired between coughs, taking her earbuds out.

"Need a ride?" He asked begrudgingly.

Her eyes shot up. She looked over at Chase and Charles, who were conversing with each other. She suspected that they had something to do with his sudden friendliness. She then looked at herself and her sweat-soaked outfit. "I'm a little sweaty."

She saw his eyes tighten at the edges. "Don't worry about it." He muttered.

She followed him to his car, just noticing the black Eclipse. It was a really nice car.

"Uh… are you sure you don't mind that I'm sweaty? I can run home."

"It's fine." He replied gruffly as he got in.

Lizzie sighed, slipping into the passenger seat.

Needless to say, it was a long ride, despite it only lasting a few minutes. It was completely silent except for Lizzie giving him directions to her house.

She was just about to knock on the door before she turned around. She ran over the car and signaled for Will to roll the window down.

He rolled it down, albeit reluctantly.

"Thanks for the ride." Lizzie said as she leaned down to the passenger window.

Darcy merely nodded before rolling the passenger window back up and zipping off.

Lizzie walked slowly back to the front door, feeling like she was about to enter a war zone. Taking a deep breath, she reached out towards the doorknob, only to find that it wasn't there anymore.

Instead of the white front door, she found her mother, eyes wide and nose flaring.

"ELIZABETH BENNETT! Where have you been?"

_____

Lizzie dragged her feet to the 9th store of the day. Her muscles were already tired from the basketball games that she had played in the morning.

"Mother…" She groaned. She looked out the door of the store, only to find the bookstore directly across, seeming to mock her.

"Lizzie! You must try this dress on!" Lydia exclaimed.

"Lydia, this dress would barely cover my ass. It looks more like a shirt."

Lydia huffed and proceeded to stomp to the dressing room to try it on herself.

"I swear, if mother lets her buy that dress/shirt…" Lizzie muttered to Jane.

Jane smiled. "It was a lovely shirt. Besides Lizzie, what's wrong with spending time with the family?"

Lizzie looked over at Kate arguing with Lydia, who was standing in front of the mirror, admiring herself in the barely there dress.

"Lydia! I saw that first! I want it!"

"Too bad." She sniffed.

"Mother!" Kate whined.

"You stole my Jimmy Choos, remember? Think of this as payback."

Lizzie rolled her eyes and looked back at Jane. "Yes, who _wouldn't _want to spend their afternoon with such a _wonderful _and _sweet _family?"

"Lizzie! Come over here this instant!" Her mother ordered before stomping over and grabbing Lizzie by the arm.

Lizzie looked helplessly towards Jane. "Help me!" She mouthed.

Jane shook her head, smiling.

Lizzie was pushed into a dressing room, her hands full with random dresses her mother had picked out.

_Oh God. _Lizzie thought in horror as she perused the choices her mother had made.

One didn't have a back. One was way too short. One was missing the _front _of the dress for heaven's sake! Lizzie scowled. This was stupid.

She rushed out of the dressing room, throwing all the dresses on a rack, and went to look for a dress herself.

God knows that if she had let Frannie Bennett pick it out (or worse, the twins), she'd be number one on the worst dressed celebrity list. If she were famous. And a celebrity. But that was besides the point.

"Lizzie! What was wrong with the other dresses I picked for you? They were all so lovely!"

Lizzie ignored her.

Frannie Bennett went back to the rack and picked up the god-awful dress, the worst out of all of them. "What about this one? Isn't it lovely?"

"Mother." Lizzie scowled. "There a slight problem with a dress. You know, the fact that there's no _front_ to it?"

"It's all the style now, Lizzie." Kate said, popping in.

"Yea. All the hottest celebs do it. Caroline wore it to the red carpet a month ago." Lydia said, popping her gum obnoxiously.

"Who's Caroline?" Lizzie inquired, but instantly regretted it, sending Lydia off into a whole speech about some celebrity that she didn't care about.

"Oh my gosh! You don't know who Caroline is? She's like, the newest and hottest model ever! She's modeled for practically everyone. She gorgeous and always has perfect hair and makeup and skin. Her dresses are so gorgeous; I heard a famous designer designed them specially for her. I so want to be like her."

"No! I'm going to be like her!" Kate argued.

"Well, I for one, don't want my boobs hanging out of my dress." Lizzie raised her voice above the commotion. Both sisters immediately stopped arguing.

"Or your lack thereof." Lydia muttered.

Lizzie ignored her.

Lizzie grabbed a dark blue dress, after all, she loved the color and it looked great on her, and went to the dressing rooms.

The dress had a sweetheart neckline with the straps crossing in the back. It's empire waistline and pleated bust was gorgeous, and it ended right at the knee.

"Lizzie? Lizzie? How is it?" Frannie asked, extremely curious.

Lizzie sighed. "It looks fine mother. I'll take this one." Lizzie began to take the dress off. She didn't really like dresses, and even though it looked great on her, she wanted to avoid the unnecessary oh-ing and ah-ing of her little sisters. Either that or the criticizing glances. It was usually the latter.

"Don't you dare Elizabeth Bennett! Keep the dress on! I want to see it. Come out this instant!"

Lizzie sighed. _Fine. _She stepped out the dressing room.

"Lizzie, are you sure you don't want to go with this one?" Kate asked as she held up the dress that her mother had insisted on earlier.

"I'm sure." Lizzie dead-panned.

She looked at Jane, who gave her a thumbs up and a smile, and that was all she needed.

She had enough common sense to not listen to her mother as she bought the dress.

"Lizzie darling." Her mother nagged again. "You really should stop eating ice cream. You don't want it to ruin your figure." The way that her mother nagged her, it was as if she was about to get married and in danger of not fitting in her wedding dress.

"Mother. I _run._ I'll be fine."

And it continued throughout the whole shopping trip, for Kate and Lydia insisted on buying a new pair of shoes, even though they had a closest of perfectly fine and some still unworn.

Oh yes, Lizzie _loved _spending the afternoon this way.

___

Good? Bad? Ugly? Please review! I would love to hear from you!

Next chapter is pretty much done, I believe. So we'll see when I add that one.

So please click that amazing button and submit a review!

See you next time!

-CCC


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hey! Thanks bunches to everyone that reviewed! I fixed some errors or weird sentences in Chapter 1; thanks to everyone who corrected my mistakes!

For those of you that have been asking, the letters from her father are sort of based on _PS I Love You_, but they're also based on a book I read a while ago, but I don't remember what book it was. Haha.

Anywho, without further ado, here's chapter dos.

Same goes, please read and review! I would absolutely love to hear from you. (And if I made any mistakes, please notify me of it!)

Disclaimer: I am not Jane Austen. Poo.

CHAPTER TWO

"For goodness sakes! Stop fidgeting Lizzie!" Frannie Bennett scolded her.

Lizzie hadn't worn a dress and heels in god knows how long, and to tell you the truth, she was feeling a little self-conscious about it. She kept pulling at her dress, making sure that she wasn't showing too much here, or if it was too tight there.

"Lizzie, stop it! You look fine!" Jane said soothingly.

Lizzie grumbled something incoherent.

"Oh cheer up Lizzie. You'll have a lot of fun."

"I still don't understand why I couldn't come in jeans and a sweatshirt."

"Because then you would look like a hobo that lives in a box on the highway." Lydia said, giggling.

Lizzie rolled her eyes.

It was a normal, dull party with boring people and champagne. Lizzie didn't mind the champagne part. She leaned against the far wall, far enough for people not to notice her, but close enough to the drink table in case she needed another glass of champagne.

Jane was off dancing with some charming fellow that seemed nice enough, while the twins were off annoying some poor man who was too old for them. Poor guy. She couldn't find Chase, who promised he would be here tonight. She heaved a sigh and continued to lean against the wall.

Only one word could describe how she was feeling right now. _Bored. _

Bored out of her mind. Bored to death. So bored that she'd rather sit through her literature professor lecture for hours on end.

Three and half years of college, almost bachelor's degree in journalism, and the only word that she could think of was _bored. _

Hell, she'd rather be at home watching High School Musical with a bag of extremely buttered popcorn. And she hates High School Musical. And Zac Efron. Maybe it as because her sisters wouldn't stop talking about him.

At that moment, three men entered, one of them whom she instantly recognized. She scowled. _He's late. _She ran- no, fast walked, for it was impossible to run in the death traps that her sister had insisted that she wore on her feet- towards Chase.

"Chase! You loser. Thanks for being late. I've been standing there, looking like a complete socially retarded freak for the past half hour."

Lizzie was surprised. Chase actually looked pretty good, with his hair actually combed (first time in God-knows how long), dressed in a nice tux. Heck, Lizzie didn't even know that he owned a tux. Did he even know how to tie a tie?

"Oh! Bingley! Hey! I didn't recognize you for a moment." Lizzie remarked as she saw whom Chase was standing next to. "And Darcy. Wow. I didn't know you were the new kids on the block." Lizzie winked.

Of course, her mother took this opportunity to butt into their conversation.

"Oh Lizzie darling! You must introduce us to these fine young gentlemen!" Frannie remarked. "Oh! And your sisters!" Her mother waved frantically towards her sisters, who immediately scurried over towards them.

"Hello Mrs. Bennett." Chase said pleasantly. Lizzie almost snorted. It was obvious that her mother didn't recognize her childhood friend. She didn't like the fact that Lizzie's best friend was a guy, insisting that he was a bad influence and that it made her act more like a boy. It was obvious in Mrs. Bennett's face when she realized who it was.

"Oh! Chase. It's nice to see you." Frannie said pleasantly. "You sure clean up… nice."

Lizzie tried to hide her laugh behind her hand. She looked at Chase, who had the same expression as Lizzie. Lizzie looked at Bingley, who was looking intently at Jane, obviously enamored by her beauty. She looked towards the left of Bingley, and saw Darcy, who was looking at her with an eyebrow raised, as if wondering why he was being introduced to such people.

Frannie coughed and nudged Lizzie in the side with her elbow.

"Ow! Mother!" Lizzie complained. Her mother gave her a look, clearing saying 'why aren't you introducing us already?'

Lizzie scowled. "This is my family, Jane, Lydia, Kate, ("Kitty." She interjected, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously.), and my mother" She motioned towards her family. "This is Charles Bingley and Will Darcy."

"No introduction for me?" Chase asked, mock hurt on his face.

"No one wants to know who _you _are." Lizzie smirked. They stared at each other for a few seconds, before bursting into laughter.

"Elizabeth Bennett! Stop that annoying laughter! That is most unladyli-" Frannie Bennett trailed off upon noticing that Charles had already led Jane to the dance floor.

"Look at them. You should follow Jane's example! She's already caught his interest." She clapped happily, before scurrying off to tell Mr. Bennett.

___

"Oh come on Darcy! Look at all these pretty girls! You haven't had a girlfriend since high school. Come on, loosen up. Besides, what's wrong with just asking a girl to dance?" Charles' voice caught Lizzie's attention as she was sitting down, her back towards them. She was exhausted from dancing with Chase; somehow he'd convinced her to dance with him, even though she knew he would just twirl her around until she couldn't stand anymore.

Darcy, who looked more like an uncomfortable penguin in a tux since the moment he stepped into the party, did not look amused. "You're dancing with the only pretty girl in the room, Charles. Go enjoy her company."

"Aw, don't be like that Will. Lighten up. Drink some champagne. Go ask that girl we played basketball with yesterday to dance. She's very pretty."

"She is plain. Besides, she acts like a man; she plays sports, she punched people, she jokes around too much. She doesn't seem very graceful at all. She'll probably stomp on my toes."

Lizzie stood up quickly. _I'll show him graceful. _She walked past him, trying to be as graceful as possible. She saw him tense as she walked past.

Of course, knowing Lizzie's luck, she tripped on air, and was immediately caught by a waiter.

She thanked him, feeling her face turn red.

_Just my luck. _

____

"… and then Lizzie punched me in the face!" Chase exclaimed loudly to the group, consisting of Charlie, Will, Lizzie, and Jane.

"Because you were being a jerk! You stole Janie's crayons."

"I only wanted to borrow them!"

"I can't believe you're still bitter about that!"

"And they've been best friends ever since." Jane smiled, interrupting their dispute.

Somehow, in the midst of conversation with Chase, Jane, Charles, and Will (Well, not really much conversation from him; he was mostly just staring at Lizzie, making her feel very uncomfortable), they'd started talking about how she and Chase had become friends.

"Remember when you broke your arm while climbing a tree?"

"Which you dared me to do because you said that a girl couldn't climb a tree." Lizzie glared.

"Oh yea." Chase chuckled.

"Then you couldn't skate for months!" Jane laughed.

"Thank god for that." Lizzie smirked.

"You played hockey?" Darcy asked.

"No, she was a figure skater. Why'd you quit?" Jane inquired.

"Well, I wasn't very graceful. Some people would say that I was as graceful as a man. After all, someone who plays a lot of sports, punched people, and jokes around a lot can't be graceful, right?" Lizzie said cheekily, careful not to make eye contact with Darcy.

However, she did see out of the corner of her eye that Darcy tensed. She smirked.

"Don't be silly Lizzie. You were great." Jane smiled, pride evident in her voice.

"Aw. Thanks Janie." Lizzie mumbled.

"And you have a great voice too!" Jane added.

"Yea, she hadn't broken any glasses or windows since her third grade solo." Chase joked. "In fact, I'm sure she wouldn't mind a solo right now."

"Shut up Chase." Lizzie deadpanned. "I haven't sung since freshmen year in college."

"Why not?" Charlie asked.

"Just didn't feel like it anymore." Lizzie said, shrugging.

"You should try again." Everyone stared at Will. "Singing, you know. I'm sure everyone wouldn't mind hearing it."

Lizzie raised an eyebrow. Will Darcy being nice to her? No way. It seemed that everyone else thought the same too, considering all conversation after that became quite awkward and somewhat forced. Jane and Charlie later left the circle to dance and Chase left to pursue some chick in a short skirt, leaving Lizzie and Darcy standing their awkwardly.

She heard Darcy clear his throat as he tried to catch her attention and get rid of the silence between them.

_Cough _

He was getting on her nerves. Seriously, he's said about one sentence to her.

"Do you need a cough drop, Mr. Darcy?" She asked, clearly annoyed.

"Um. No thanks."

It was silent between the two again.

Lizzie checked her watch. It was 11:02, she'd stuck around for long enough. "Well Mr. Darcy, I enjoyed the extremely stimulating conversation with you. If you don't mind, excuse me, I believe I should turn in now."

Lizzie scoffed as she walked out to hail a taxi. _Stimulating. _Lizzie really didn't like William Darcy. In fact, she wouldn't mind if she'd never see him again.

___

Luck is something that many people possess; those that win the lottery, or perhaps those that manage to pull off an 'A' on the midterm in a college course, even though they haven't attended half of the classes.

But the problem with luck is that many people that have incredibly good luck call it "talent," which is the case for one Caroline Bingley (whom Lizzie had found out after 3 years of going to the same college with her, was Charlie's sister, although Lizzie could see no resemblance whatsoever).

Caroline Bingley, a model that Lydia and Kate were ranting on about, was bragging about how she is so _talented_ at reading people and how she had absolutely _aced _the Psychology midterm. Her loud, annoying voice rang out so loudly that Lizzie, sitting at the opposite end of the living room for the dorm, could hear her.

Lizzie gritted her teeth as she attempted to continue editing her video that she had to turn in later in the afternoon. It was a project that required her to make a documentary, and she had, in light of the global green movement, made a video about recycling and saving energy.

"Oh, Eliza, darling." Caroline said from across the room. "How'd you do on the exam? It was extremely easy. I'm sure even you could pull off a good grade."

Lizzie ignored her. It bothered her to no end that she had worked her ass off all year, only to receive a B on her exam, while Caroline, who wouldn't be able to tell the difference psychology and physiology, had gotten a better grade than her.

And of course, she knew that Caroline had "accidentally" seen Lizzie's grade by peeking over her shoulder when the professor passed them out.

Seriously, she couldn't understand how Charlie could be related to her.

"And guess what?"

"What Caroline? Please tell me. Because I'm _dying _to hear about every little miniscule detail that happens in your life." Lizzie said sarcastically.

Caroline giggled and ignored Lizzie. "I'm going out to dinner with _the_ bachelor of the year."

Gasps and sighs were heard from Caroline's group of friends.

"You're so lucky Caroline!"

"Yea! William Darcy is like, so hot."

"Wait. William Darcy?" Lizzie asked.

"Um. Duh. He's US weekly's hottest bachelor." One of her friends, Lorrie, at least that's what Lizzie thought her name was, said.

"Not for long, darling." Caroline smirked.

"I love his abs. They're so… Oh my gosh. I wish I could touch his-" The loud sound of the chair screeching drowned out Lorrie/Lisa's voice. Lizzie had heard enough. She really hoped that Kate and Lydia's conversations weren't like this.

Oh who was she kidding? Her little sisters were growing up to be Caroline miniatures.

_____

"Oh please Lizzie. I can't do this alone."

"Jane." Lizzie groaned into her pillow. It was 6:30 in the morning; her class doesn't start till 10:00, and Jane was calling her, begging her over the phone. "You're perfectly capable of doing this on your own. Charlie adores you, you'll be fine. You don't need a support system there."

"Please Lizzie. I'll buy you tickets to a basketball game." Jane bribed her, knowing exactly what would sway Lizzie.

"They better be front row seats." Lizzie grumbled.

"Is that a yes?" Jane squealed.

"Umghhh."

"I love you Lizzie! You're the best sister ever!"

_Click_

Lizzie was once again curled up under the warm covers and was snoozing again.

___

It wasn't until Lizzie was getting dragged to the car did she realize what she had agreed to do.

"I'm the third wheel Jane! This is _your _date, not mine! This is going to be so awkward."

"Calm down Lizzie. His friend's going to be there too."

Lizzie scowled. "This had better not be an excuse for a double date."

Jane merely smiled.

"Jane! You know how I hate blind dates! Remember the freak that Mom set me up with last year?"

Jane feigned nonchalance.

"I poured my martini on his head."

"You'll have fun. I promise. Besides, you look great." Jane smiled.

Lizzie had decided to wear a long, flowly and loose top with a belt around it and skinny jeans. She paired the outfit with gladiator sandals. It looked great. For a tomboy, Lizzie sure knew how to dress.

Lizzie continued to grumble as Jane drove them to the café that they had decided to have their date. It wasn't overpriced or fancy, to Lizzie's surprise, but was nice and laidback.

_Maybe I can get a table in the corner while the two lovebirds are in another table._

"Don't even think about getting a different table, Lizzie." Jane said, as if reading her mind.

_Damn it. _"I don't know what you're talking about." Lizzie said innocently. Sometimes she really wondered whether or not Jane had inherited Edward Cullen's ability to read people's minds.

Lizzie stepped out of the car and looked around to find the telltale red head of hair at the front of the café. Jane's face immediately formed a smile at the sight of Charlie.

"Hey Charlie!" Lizzie yelled from across the parking lot, whom waved back enthusiastically, especially upon seeing Jane.

Lizzie couldn't tell who the person next to him was, but it seemed he already had a date.

Lizzie scowled. So she was the _fifth _wheel, not the _third. _That made things _so _much better. Would it be too late to run for it?

However, on closer inspection, she realized that the man in question seemed to become more and more familiar, and so was the woman clinging to his arm.

"Caroline Bingley?!" Lizzie burst out laughing as she saw exactly who was standing next to… William Darcy.

"This was your date that you were talking about?" Lizzie said, leaning down as she tried to catch her breath from laughing. The way that she was talking about Will Darcy at class made it seem like the two were going on some romantic date on a remote island, and for Lizzie to find that it was a _group _date, and the man in question seemed exceedingly uncomfortable by the proximity of the blond, almost made her roll on the ground with laughter.

When she looked back up, a new peal of laughter erupted from Lizzie as she saw Caroline's bright red face and Darcy looking at her as if she was insane.

"I'm sorry." Lizzie said, wiping a tear away from her face. "Woo. That was funny."

"What's so funny, Lizzie?" Charlie asked.

Before Lizzie could answer, Caroline's annoying voice butt in.

"Charles. It's so terribly cold out side. Could we please go in? I wouldn't want to catch a cold. After all, I have a modeling shoot soon, and I don't want to have a runny nose."

Lizzie rolled her eyes, but then realized that she too was shivering a bit.

She then felt a warm jacket go around her shoulders. She looked up, confused, only to find William Darcy… well… jacket-less.

"Thanks?" Lizzie said, not sure she believed that Darcy had just given her his jacket.

He merely nodded.

She heard Caroline scoff loudly as she dragged Darcy with her into the café, probably angry that Darcy had given Lizzie his jacket.

Wait. Why _did _he give Lizzie his jacket?

Lizzie shook her head and laughed again, following Jane and Charlie who also turned around to enter the restaurant.

As she went into the restaurant, Lizzie couldn't help but think that the jacket smelled _really good. _

A/N: Well, that's chapter two.

Like? Hate? Please review!

And here's a song!

"There's only 1 thing, 2 do, 3 words, 4 you! **Submit a review**!" (Plain White T's _1,2,3,4) _


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Okay, here's chapter Three! I'm not sure if I like this chapter too much, but oh well.

Thanks for the reviews everyone! I love hearing from you!

And now, here's chapter tres!

**Disclaimer: **Hmm. Still not Jane Austen. Still don't own the devilishly hot William Darcy. Darn it.

CHAPTER THREE

If it was one thing Lizzie loved most, it was probably food. Her father always said that could eat her own weight in food, and that she would eat them out of their house. It definitely didn't surprise any of her family when they woke up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water to find Lizzie munching on some cereal or something.

But hey, exercise burns a lot of calories.

And so, Lizzie loved going out to eat.

The café was very nice and had a great atmosphere. The food on the menu looked delicious, (but Lizzie loved food, so anything sounded great), and to top it all off, the waiter was really cute.

Both Jane and Charlie decided to share a foot long deli club, which Lizzie that was adorable. She approved of Charlie; he was sweet and nice, a perfect match for Janie.

"I'd like a grilled chicken salad with ranch, please." Caroline said to the waiter without taking her eyes (or hands) off Darcy.

Lizzie resisted the urge to roll her eyes, which she realized that she'd been doing a lot lately around Caroline Bingley. Not that she was trying to hang around her of course, it's just very difficult to ignore someone who talks obnoxiously in a study room.

"I'll have the one pound burger." Will said with is usual monotonous voice.

"I'll have the same." Lizzie said, smiling to the waiter, whose eyes widened a bit, but then turned up into a big smile.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like a quarter pound, ma'am?"

"No. I'd like the pound, please." She smiled again, slightly miffed that the waiter thought that she couldn't handle it. Not all girls were like Caroline Bingley; skinny and scared to eat anything.

The waiter nodded. "Certainly ma'am."

Lizzie turned to Will, who was scowling at the waiter. "Eating contest?" Lizzie asked, smiling.

Will raised an eyebrow as he turned towards her.

Charles laughed. "Just so you know, Will has never been beaten in an eating contest."

"Well, perhaps that'll change tonight." She smirked.

"I wouldn't underestimate Lizzie, Will. She eats _a lot_." Jane said.

"So does William." Caroline said. "And he works out, a _lot._" Caroline, as if further proving her point, moved her arm to feel his bicep.

Lizzie nearly lost her appetite. _Nearly._ And that takes a lot to do.

The food finally arrived and Will and Lizzie started getting their burgers ready while Caroline complained about whether or not her salad was fresh enough, with everyone ignoring her.

Caroline coughed, temporarily stopping her complaining to 'politely insult' Lizzie. "You know, hamburgers have a lot of grease and fat in them. And Lizzie, darling, it will ruin your figure… even more."

Lizzie smiled sweetly at Caroline as started pouring her ranch dressing over her salad. "You know Carol. Ranch dressing has 72.6 calories in one tablespoon. How many tablespoons of ranch dressing do you have right there in your salad?"

Caroline almost choked on the bite of lettuce that she had in her mouth.

Lizzie smirked. She caught Will's eye, who was now sitting across from her. His incredulous expression seemed to say, "_How the heck would you know how many calories are in ranch?_"

Lizzie shrugged. "I know things." Actually, she had written a paper about obese America for her journalism class. Who said knowing random bits of information wouldn't help one day? Smiling slightly, she motioned towards Darcy. "Are you ready to lose?"

Darcy chuckled. "Are _you_?"

Charlie eyed both of us warily. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Definitely."

"Okay. Ready, set… eat!" Jane smiled.

____

Lizzie groaned as she collapsed on the table. Darcy stared at the chunk of burger left in his hands in disbelieve before he put it down on his plate in defeat.

"I ate… too much." She said, moaning. She felt like she was about to burst.

Jane smiled. "Lizzie is really fast at eating, but doesn't know her limits."

"She's not going to puke, is she?" Caroline said, horror on her face. Lizzie pretended to puke on Caroline, who shrieked in horror, before laying her head back onto the table.

Caroline hadn't touched her salad, save for the few pieces of lettuce that didn't have any ranch dressing on it. Which wasn't much.

"She'll be fine." Jane said, patting her sister's head.

"Well then, we've got ourselves a new champion!" Charlie laughed, raising Lizzie's hand over her head.

Lizzie groaned again.

"Remind me to never do that again, Jane."

"She says that every time. I've stopped reminding her, because she never learns."

"Well, anyone up for dessert?" Charlie joked.

Lizzie slapped his arm before once again collapsing on the table.

After giving the burger half an hour to digest, the five of them finally left the restaurant.

"Will, since Lizzie won, shouldn't she get some kind of prize?" Charlie asked.

"I guess."

"What would you like?" Charlie said, turning to Lizzie.

"I don't know. I haven't actually thought of a prize. I prefer the title of undefeated champ in eating contests." Lizzie laughed, balancing on the curb.

"Oh come on Lizzie. You have to want something. It doesn't happen everyday that someone can beat Will at an eating contest." Charlie said.

Lizzie shrugged again.

"Yes, Eliza, darling. What do you want? Money? Fame?" Caroline sneered.

"For what? So I can spend it on worthless junk that I'll never use again? Or maybe so I can get my face on a gossip magazine? No thanks, I'm good."

Caroline huffed, but stayed silent. She stuck her nose up into the air, as if she would _never _understand what it would feel like to be as famous as she is.

"No, I'd rather have… I don't know, tickets to a basketball game." Lizzie named the first thing that came to mind. "Which reminds me Jane, you owe me tickets."

"That's a brilliant idea! Will, why don't you accompany her to a basketball game? Aren't the NCAA finals soon? Didn't you want to get tickets to those?"

"No, that's alright." Lizzie said, not wanting to trouble them. (And also not wanting to watch a game with Darcy)

"I'm sure Will doesn't want to go to a basketball game, right Will?" Caroline said, fluttering her eyelashes.

"Oh come on Will. You and I both know that you wanted to watch Michigan State against N. Carolina in the finals."

"How're we going to get there?" Will asked.

"It's only a few hours from here. You can take her in your car." Charlie said.

"But…" Lizzie tried to say.

"Fine." Will said gruffly.

"No, it's okay. You don't have to go through all that trouble." Lizzie said.

"Don't worry about it Lizzie. Will's been trying to find someone to go with to the finals for a while. I can't because there's a business meeting I have to go to."

"I like basketball." Caroline interjected. "It's so exciting when they score a touchdown. Woo! Go Dallas Stars!" Looking hopefully at Will, as if he was going to invite her to watch with him.

"What about Chase?" Lizzie asked, ignoring Caroline's comment. It was obvious she just wanted to score some more time with him.

"Chase goes to school in California." Jane said.

_Dang it. _

And that was when Lizzie Bennett found she had plans with William Darcy.

____

Lizzie woke up the next day feeling, well, great. No traces of overeating left from the night before, she quickly changed into sweats so she could run off the excess food she ate. She may not be a calorie freak like Caroline, but she didn't like overeating and not exercising afterwards.

It was when she was about to leave the dorm room that she saw the jacket that she had left on the couch before collapsing in bed last night.

_I should probably return that. _

Then she remembered what had happened last night.

She was going to a basketball game with William Darcy this weekend.

In the same car.

For three hours.

_Shoot. Me. Now. _

She began to run through the many excuses she had saved up in her head. (You know, the ones that you use when you don't feel like going to workout in the early morning or when you don't feel like doing anything?)

But then she realized that it was the _finals_. Of the NCAAs. It was going to be a great game, at the very least. And he had _front row tickets. _In with all the action, it was so close you feel like you're part of the game. She'd be so close that they could _sweat _on her.

Maybe a few hours with Darcy wouldn't be so bad. As long as he wasn't one of those control freaks about the radio. As long as she had the radio, she should be good.

Or at least she hoped it'd be okay.

____

Lizzie walked out of class, dreading that she was going to have to meet with Darcy today. Hopefully, no one would see her with him, after all, gossip traveled like wildfire, even in college. Everyone loved good gossip.

Unfortunately, keeping things on the down low didn't happen. Will Darcy had a different car this time, and it was even nicer than last time. Nope, that shiny Eclipse was gone, and a nice, new, spot free, and even shinier BMW was parked right in front of the university.

It was one of those cars that you were afraid to breath on, let alone sit in. And there was Will Darcy, leaning against the car that cost more than Lizzie's paycheck for the year, looking like a model in his rolled up button down and jeans. Needless to say, his appearance, Mister Billionaire and head of a corporation at age 24 and owner of countless awards and covers of magazines, caused quite a commotion to the people that saw him parked out in front. Especially the female population.

Lizzie looked at herself, who, honestly, didn't spend more than 10 minutes in front of the mirror. She wore her Michigan State tshirt and a pair of old jeans with holes in them, paired with a pair of Nike's. Her hair looked like a bird's nest, and she didn't bother to put on makeup, even with her sister's insistence that she did.

Despite feeling extremely underdressed, Lizzie put on a brave face and marched over to Darcy, past all the giggling girls.

"Hey Darce." Lizzie said, smiling slightly, trying not to grimace at the feeling of a bunch of eyes glaring daggers at the back of her head.

He merely nodded and opened the door for her, which surprised her.

She climbed in slowly and sat on the leather seats. She loved how the car smelled, a mix of new car smell and… Darcy.

Lizzie shook her head, but realized that Darcy, who had already gotten into the driver's seat, was staring at her inquisitively.

Lizzie laughed nervously. "You excited about the game?" She asked, trying to get rid of the awkwardness of the situation and how uncomfortable she felt by the girls that were _still _outside staring at her.

"Yes." Darcy answered before starting the car. The low hum of the BMW was the only thing that could be heard as he drove on.

Lizzie breathed a sigh of relief as they left the university.

However, half an hour later, the car was still silent. She half expected it actually. After all, Darcy obviously didn't like her, and well, she wasn't exactly a big fan of him. It's pretty hard to have a good conversation with someone you don't get along with all too well.

The silence became unbearable for Lizzie, and apparently for Darcy too. He plugged his IPOD into his car, and music flowed through the speakers, breaking the exceedingly awkardness of the whole situation.

"Nickelback?" Lizzie remarked as the familiar lyrics of "Gotta Be Somebody" played.

"You listen?" Darcy asked.

"A little." Lizzie said. "Do you mind?" Lizzie asked, gesturing towards his IPOD.

"Go ahead."

Lizzie smiled and scrolled through the titles on his Ipod.

"Jack's Mannequin? They're not bad." Lizzie murmured. "Death Cab for Cutie, Owl City, Plain White T's, Ryan Cabrera, Britney Spears?" Lizzie laughed, raising an eyebrow.

Will didn't look over, but the telltale pink on his ears showed that he was embarrassed. "My sister put that on there. I haven't taken it off yet."

"Oh really? Don't tell me that you don't know all the lyrics to Toxic." Lizzie teased as she started humming it.

He laughed for the first time, and Lizzie decided that she liked his laugh. He had a deep laugh and would throw his head back, eyes sparkling.

"What?" He asked, his eyes still on the road, as if sensing that she was staring at him… again.

"Oh nothing." Lizzie said quickly, this time it was her turn to blush.

He smiled softly.

The song changed and a female voice sang softly.

_A Few Years later, Time goes by fast._

_Got my Memories and they will last_

_I try to keep it simple cause I hate goodbyes_

_I try to keep it simple but by telling myself_

_That I, I will remember you,_

_All of the things that we've gone through_

_There is so much I can say but words get in the way_

_So, we're not together, I will remember you._

Lizzie gasped softly, causing Will to tilt his head towards her, wanting to see the reason why she gasped, but not wanting to take his eyes off the road.

Lizzie took a deep breath and smiled softly, before singing along.

_I Will remember your._

_We're a picture in my mind_

_And When I wanna find you, I just close my eyes._

_You'll never be that far from me so don't say goodbye_

_You'll never be that far from me I'm telling myself_

_That I, I will remember you,_

_All of the things that we've gone though_

_There is so much I can say but words get in they way,_

_So, we're not together, I will remember you_.

"You have a wonderful voice." Will said, drawing Lizzie out of her daze.

"Oh!" Lizzie said, shocked. She couldn't believe that she had started singing in front of him. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Will said.

"So, um. What's your favorite song?" Lizzie said, changing the subject.

"That song that we just listened to."

"Re- really?" Lizzie asked, stuttering. "Why is that?"

"Yea." Darcy said. "I can really connect to it. My mother died, and then my father shortly after. It's a pity she stopped singing though, the singer I mean. This was her only song, wasn't it?"

"Yea, I think so." Lizzie said. "They say that during she had gotten a record company to hear her, but instead of the song she was supposed to sing, she sang a different song."

"I wish I could've heard the earlier songs too."

Lizzie merely nodded.

"What's your favorite song?"

"Hmm…" Lizzie said thoughtfully. "I'd have to say…" Lizzie pressed the center button on his Ipod and a new song started playing. "This song. I'm glad you have it on your Ipod."

"I will follow you in the dark?"

"Yup." Lizzie said, nodding, even though Darcy couldn't see.

"Why this song?"

"I don't know. It… it makes love seem eternal, you know? Even past 'till death do us part.' I think…" Lizzie trailed off as she looked over at Darcy, who was staring at her. (They were at a stoplight)

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing." Darcy said, quickly turning his head back.

Lizzie raised an eyebrow. "I guess my parents have influenced me."

"How so?"

"My parents divorced when I was in high school. It was one of those moments when you realize things weren't what they seemed. I always thought they had a happy marriage and would be together forever." Lizzie said. "And so I guess I have some warped look on love. And then a few years later, my father died of a heart attack, and… here I am. Oops. I'm babbling again. Sorry."

"No, it's alright. I like listening." Darcy said.

"You probably think I'm a complete nutcase, don't you?" Lizzie teased.

"On the contrary, I think you're quite fascinating." Darcy said.

"Uhh. Thanks, Darcy?" Lizzie said, not quite sure what to say to someone that just called you fascinating, as if you were some rare, exotic animal that was being studied on one of those discovery channels. But perhaps it was a compliment in London, but to Lizzie, it didn't matter. Paired with the hot British accent, it was a lethal combination. If only he hadn't insulted her before she could meet him. Too bad he had.

"Will." Darcy said.

"Huh?"

"Call me Will."

"But I quite like calling you Darcy. Or maybe Darce?"

Darcy stayed quiet.

"Aww. Come on Darce. Don't ignore me."

He didn't say a word.

After many tries, she realized that she wasn't going to get a response out of him until she called him by his first name. "Fine! Will."

He smiled.

"You know, that's probably the first conversation I've with you since I've met you?"

Will laughed softly. "We're here."

"Oh!" Lizzie exclaimed as she realized they had arrived at Michigan State University. A huge crowd of people had begun to gather already.

"So you're for Michigan State?" Will asked.

"Gee Einstein. What gave that away?" Lizzie asked sarcastically, gesturing towards the Michigan State shirt she was wearing.

Will laughed. "Too bad they're going to lose."

"Wanna bet?" Lizzie said.

"Sure."

"Loser buys winner ice cream." Lizzie said.

"Deal."

____

A/N: There ya have it!

The song in this chapter is "I Will Remember You" by Ryan Cabrera. A guy sings it, but I just love the lyrics. So if you listen to it, imagine it an octave higher.

I'm sure a lot of you are wondering why I made Lizzie And Will get along. I like changing things up, so I wanted to try this out. I think it makes it more interesting-ish? Maybe? Haha. But don't worry, Will Darcy will get his brooding moments. Don't you worry about it. I just didn't want him to be all dark and broody the whole time.

Tell me what you think, I hope you liked this chapter!

Hmm. No song this time.

Poem? Perhaps.

Review this story please.

Just click that button with ease.

It only takes a few,

And it'll make the author happy too!

Lame, I know. Haha, but I hope it convinces you to review!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hey guys! Here's Chapter four! I'm glad you liked chapter three.

Thanks so much for all the reviews. Thanks to Mrs. Dom Masbolle, your reviews give me more confidence!

What to expect in this chapter? Well, you finally get to meet everyone's favorite character, Mr. Collins! It was a lot of fun writing about him. He's a creeper. Haha.

So please reads and review! I would LOVE to hear from you! Please notify me of any mistakes I've made. I've already corrected some of the mistakes that I've made. Thank you to the people that have caught them; I believe I've already fixed them!

Same goes for this chapter. Read and review please! :)

**Disclaimer**: Hmm. Still not Jane Austen.

CHAPTER FOUR

Lizzie groaned again as the first half ended, with North Carolina up 24 points, Wayne Ellington scoring 17 points."

And then there was stupid Darcy, sitting there with a smirk on his face.

"Mint chocolate chip." He said.

"Excuse me?"

"My favorite ice cream flavor." Will replied, still smirking.

Lizzie hated to admit it, but it was her favorite too.

"They might still win, you know. There are a lot of teams that have gotten back on the second half of the game."

"Uh huh." Will nodded. "Sure."

Lizzie smiled, despite it. He wasn't the antisocial jerk that he turned out to be. He was pleasant, at the very least.

_____

Lizzie grumbled into her ice cream with Will sitting across from her. He was smiling gently, but she knew he was smirking inside.

_Stupid, smirking, British man._

So Michigan State had lost to North Carolina by 13 points. _13 points! _

"Still bitter about losing, are we?" Will asked.

"No." Lizzie said, fiercely licking her ice cream. Although it probably just looked silly, considering it is quite difficult to look fierce with an ice cream cone in her hand.

"Why're you such a die-hard Michigan fan?" Will inquired.

"My father went here and played on the basketball team. Way back in the day. He used to take me here and watch basketball games with me when we visited Michigan. And that's when I got into basketball."

Will nodded.

"So since you've asked me a question, does that mean I get to ask you one?"

"What is this, twenty questions?" Will asked, eyes sparkling, causing Lizzie to forget her question for a second.

"Hmm. Why'd you hate me when we first met?" Lizzie asked the first question that came into mind. Once the question slipped, she realized how potentially awkward this could turn out.

Will stiffened. _Oops._ Lizzie thought.

"I didn't hate you."

"Really. Because your actions spoke otherwise." Lizzie deadpanned.

"I'm not very good at meeting new people. I guess I come off a little… anti-social."

Lizzie laughed. "Yea, the monosyllables kind of gave it away."

Will smiled. "Sorry about insulting you."

"It's alright. I'm not graceful. And I guess I'm a boyish."

"No, I'm sorry. I was wrong. You know, I'd love to see you skate sometime."

"No you wouldn't. I'd probably spend more time on my butt than on my skates." Lizzie laughed. "I haven't skated in forever."

"I'll drag you there sometime." Will smiled.

As they walked back to the car, Lizzie realized that they had stepped closer to being friends.

The drive home was silent, except it was a comfortable silence. And before long, Lizzie felt herself drifting off…

____

_Beep beep. Beep Beep._

Lizzie's alarm on her phone went off, causing her to jump up from the bed.

Wait… bed?

She took her surroundings in, only to find herself in an unfamiliar room.

_That's weird. _

She remembered falling asleep in Will's car…

It was then that the man himself walked in, his hair a royal mess, but still managing to look like he had just walked out of a photo shoot.

"I heard your alarm." He said sleepily, mussing up his hair even more with his hand.

"Wha?" Lizzie asked, eyes still half closed.

"You fell asleep in the car. I don't know where you live, and Jane was with Charlie and therefore couldn't open the door for you. So I took you to my apartment." He said, as if knowing exactly what Lizzie wanted to ask.

"Oh…" Lizzie replied, taking a moment to process the information. "Why didn't you wake me?

"I tried." Will smirked. "I have a feeling that you could sleep through a hurricane."

"Oops."

"My sister's the same actually. I had to dump cold water on her so she'd get to school on time."

"Really?" Lizzie asked, her eyebrow raised. "I hope you didn't consider doing that to me."

"I was afraid you'd punch me if I did. From what I've heard from Chase, you'd probably punch me so hard I'd bruise."

Lizzie threw a pillow at him, which bounced off his (Lizzie couldn't help but notice) extremely toned chest.

Will blinked. "Ouch? Was that supposed to hurt?"

"Be quiet." Lizzie said, before digging her face back into another pillow, only to feel the pillow she threw at Will ricochet off her head. A laugh followed shortly after.

Lizzie groaned. She hated mornings.

The smell of bacon and eggs drifted into the room, causing Lizzie to almost drool on Will's pillow.

Apparently Will found her weakness. Not that it was hard to figure out what it was.

Grumbling to herself, she crawled out from underneath the covers and slowly shuffled towards the kitchen. Heck, it smelled _really _good.

"You cook?" Lizzie asked.

"A little. I had to take care of my sister."

Lizzie nodded, staring at the pan full of eggs and bacon.

"Get a plate." Will pointed to the cabinet next to him.

Lizzie reached up for the plate, but apparently the house was designed for abnormally tall people, like Will, and so the shelf wasn't within reach. Lizzie stretched on her tippy toes, but just barely touched the plates, which were on the second shelf.

She felt Will behind her as he reached over her for the plates. She closed her eyes as she felt his warm body behind her.

"I forgot. You're short." He said, interrupting her from her thoughts, causing her to blush slightly.

"Hey! I'm not short! I'm taller than most girls!"

"Sure."

Lizzie pouted, but it was immediately replaced with a grin when Will handed her a plate full of food.

"Smells good…" Lizzie sat down on the table and began to eat.

Darcy slid into the seat in front of her, and proceeded to look at her with a very amused look on his face.

"What?" Lizzie muttered, her mouth still full of egg.

"You eat like a monster."

"You know, I've heard that before." Lizzie said after swallowing a mouth full of eggs. "My father used to say that to me."

___

_Dear Lizzie,_

_Remember the time when your mother set you up with that horrid man, Mr. Collins, I believe? Does he still pursue you? He reminded me a bit of Chase when he was a child, except when Mr. Collins began to follow you home. That's when the resemblance stopped. So I guess there wasn't much similarity between them. _

_I seemed to have inherited your habit of rambling. Or perhaps you've inherited it from me, since you're my daughter? It's just like that question, did the chicken come before the egg? Or did the egg come before the chicken? All very important questions, my darling._

_Oh look at me, I've filled up half the page and still haven't gotten to the point. Where was I? Oh, Mr. Collins. _

_You see, your mother only wanted the best for you, and that is to find someone who will care for you. However, do not listen to her when it comes to finding that person, because I assure you she will set you up with the closest rich snob you will find, without taking heed in what kind of person he is. Mr. Collins being exhibit A. _

_It's not that your mother doesn't love you and wished to get rid of you (Although it sometimes seems like that's the case), she just wants you to be comfortable in life, and although money does help sometimes, it is not the most important. _

_Lizzie darling, my hope is for you to find someone. Someone who makes you happy. Someone who makes you laugh and smile that pretty smile of yours that always lit up my day, someone who will listen to your long (and sometimes annoying) ramblings but still enjoy listening to them just because they like it, and someone who will go to basketball games with you. Perhaps even someone who is courageous enough to bet against you in a competition. (Because God knows you're probably the most competitive person on Earth) Oh, and when you meet this person, please chew with your mouth closed. _

_I love you Lizzie bear._

_-Father_

_P.S. If Mr. Collins decides to come by again, feel free to hit him on the head with one of your textbooks. You have my permission. (Not that the lack of it ever stopped you) _

____

_Knock Knock._

Lizzie groaned into her pillow. "Janie! Someone's at the door." She yelled out. It was six in the morning for heaven's sake!

When the annoying knocking still continued, Lizzie realized that Jane was still with Charlie, which would've normally bothered Lizzie, but it was too early to process the information.

_Damn. _

Lizzie seriously considered leaving the annoying person at the other side of the door standing there. But by the sound of it, the other person wasn't going to give up, especially after five minutes of continual knocking.

Lizzie growled and stalked over to the door after throwing a sweatshirt over her head.

"You know, it's one thing to go to someone's dorm in the morning, but it's another if you annoy the hell out of the person because you're knocking on the door nonstop for five minutes!" Lizzie yelled as she threw open the door.

"Co- Collins?" Lizzie nearly shut the door in his face as she realized who the round, short, and oily haired 26 year old creeper was.

"Hello Elizabeth." The dreaded Mr. Collins said with his nasally voice.

Lizzie was really rethinking about shutting the door in his face and calling the police.

"Hello Collins." Lizzie said monotonously.

"Now, now, what have I told you? Call me Matthew."

Lizzie rolled her eyes.

"Now are you going to invite me in, after I've come so far just to see you?" He insisted.

But before Lizzie could give him a flat out "No." and a "Get away from me," he walked past Lizzie and entered her dorm room.

"Where's Jane this fine morning?"

"She's with a friend." Lizzie deadpanned.

"Oh, that's wonderful. Well, you must be delighted to see me, after all this time."

"Yes, dee-lighted." Lizzie said sarcastically. But she forgot that with Collins, sarcasm didn't work. He was as dense as a wall.

"I knew it. Well, I'll have you know that I've missed you too, Lizzie."

Lizzie hid a laugh with a cough. She got up to get a glass of water, just so she could get away from him. Unfortunately, she was followed.

"Well, since it seems we have mutual feelings towards each other, I've got a fantastic idea."

"Or really? Please _enlighten _me on this _fantastic _idea." Lizzie said as she took another gulp of water.

"We should go out to dinner and get to know each other more." Lizzie choked on the water that she drinking. "We didn't get to do that much in high school, with you being so intent in your studies. Although I'm not upset about it, after all, my patron, _Lady _Catherine De Bourgh absolutely adores intelligent people. Which is probably why I find myself so attracted to you."

Lizzie burst out in laughter.

"I can see you're delighted. I'll pick you up at seven tonight! Wear something nice."

"No." Lizzie said, immediately ceasing her giggling.

"Excuse me?"

"I will not go out with you."

"Now, I know you girls love to play hard to get. It has been a while since I've been in college and school, but I still remember how a woman's mind works. Don't worry, I'll play along." Mr. Collins winked.

Lizzie almost gagged. "Collins. I will not go out with you. I am not playing hard to get. I will not go out with you. And in case you haven't gotten it into your head yet, I will repeat it once again. I will not go out with you! How did you get the address to where I lived anyways?"

"You're dear mother gave it to me. Now you see Lizzie, she believes we are a perfect match."

Lizzie snorted. "She also believes that she and Michael Phelps should go on a date."

"Well, listen to your heart, Lizzie. I know that you feel the same way. I can see it in your eyes."

Lizzie almost threw up right there. It sounded like some sad excuse for a romantic poem. "Okay, this is enough. Please leave. Now."

"What?"

Lizzie rolled her eyes and grabbed Collins by the arm and pushed him out the front door.

"And if you even show up around here at seven, I will call the police." Lizzie said, shutting the door in his shocked face.

Lizzie slumped down against the door.

This was going to be a long week.

Lizzie crawled back to her room and curled up back into the covers.

____

_Wherever you go I will be waiting._

_Whenever you go I will be there._

_Whatever it takes I'll make your darkest days so bright_

_I'm in your heart tonight. _

Lizzie groaned as she was woken up _again_ in the same morning, but this timeby her cell phone.

Luckily, on Mondays, she didn't have class. Still, getting woken up again definitely did not make Lizzie a happy camper.

"What?" Lizzie asked, her voice still groggy with sleep.

_Lizzie? _A familiar voice asked, but Lizzie couldn't put her finger on who it was.

"Who's dis?" Lizzie asked, eyes still closed.

_It's Charlie. _

"Hey Charlie." Lizzie mumbled.

_Jane's sick, so she won't be home today. I would've called last night, but I forgot._

Lizzie's eyes popped open.

"She's sick? What's she sick with? Is she okay?"

_She's fine. Just a bit of stomach flu, I think. She threw up earlier. _

"I'll be right there."

-Click-

Lizzie jumped out of bed, only to get tangled up in the sheets, which made her trip and fall on the floor.

"Oof!"

She quickly untangled herself and grabbed her discarded sweatshirt she had taken off a mere hour earlier after her encounter with Collins.

She didn't bother fixing her appearance. She threw her fair in a quick messy bun and grabbed all the things that Janie would need; toothbrush, toothpaste, a change of clothes, you know, all the necessities.

Although Lizzie was pretty sure Charlie was taking good care of her.

She grabbed a bagel (which seemed to be the only thing that she had in her fridge, besides bottles of Gatorade and eggs) and ran out of the dorm house, making a mental note to buy more food.

She hailed a taxi quickly told the driver the address that Charlie had told her. He seemed surprised, as he asked Lizzie again for confirmation.

Upon pulling up to the house, she immediately realized why the driver was impressed.

It was an amazing house, complete with a huge lawn and gates. It was kind of intimidating and it made Lizzie feel small.

The driver drove slowly up the driveway, as if he was afraid that he would drive over the grass and get sued for destruction of property.

When they finally reached the front door, she quickly thanked the driver, popped the trunk, grabbed the stuff she brought, and ran up to the front door.

"Oh hey Lizzie, come on in." A smiling Charlie said as he led her into the house.

Lizzie's mouth was wide open as she walked through the door.

It was more like a mansion, or a museum. It was _huge. _

Lizzie nodded as Charlie asked her something, but she didn't hear him. She was still staring, no, gaping at her surroundings.

She was led somewhere, only to find Will Darcy and Charlie's sister in the living room.

She was met with the shocked look on Caroline's face as she saw Lizzie step through the door.

"Hello Eliza." Caroline sneered.

"Hello Caroline." Lizzie managed to say as pleasantly as possible. "Hey Will." She said, smiling.

She loved the look of surprise on Caroline's face as she heard the familiar and friendly tone form Lizzie. It even rivaled the look on Simon's face on Britain's Got Talent when he heard Susan Boyle sing.

It was then that Lizzie realized how extremely underdressed she was. There she was, in her sweatshirt and gym shorts, with her hair an a mess on top of her head, standing in a room with a model who dressed as if she were going clubbing everyday, and two very successful business men whose casual clothes consisted of a polo and jeans.

"I think I'll go see how Jane's doing." Lizzie said, asking Charlie where her room was.

"Would you like me to go with you?"

"No, that's okay. I think I can manage." Lizzie smiled.

She quickly left the room, but apparently Caroline couldn't wait till she was out of the room and out of hearing distance to bitch about her outfit.

"Did you see what she was wearing? Honestly Charlie, you have to stop letting people that _her _into the house. Next thing you people will think this is a charity house and all the hobos on the street will be on our doorstep."

Gee. Caroline Bingley was such a _kind_ and _generous_ person.

____

So that's the chapter! I hope you liked it. Please write a review to tell me what you think.

By the way, the song for her ringtone is "Gone So Young" by Amber Pacific.

I've been getting a bunch of views, but not as many reviews! Come on! It only takes a few seconds to write a review. Click it. I know you want it. If you're reading this right now, **PLEASE REVIEW!**

I already have chapter 5 written. So i guess the more reviews i get, the more compelled i will be to upload it. :)

Thanks so much for sticking with this story!

-CCC


	5. Chapter 5

Hey! Here's chapter five! Thanks for all the reviews and encouragement!

Please read and review this chapter!

**Disclaimer: Jane Austen's characters do not belong to me. **

Last Chapter:

"_I think I'll go see how Jane's doing." Lizzie said, asking Charlie where her room was. _

"_Would you like me to go with you?" _

"_No, that's okay. I think I can manage." Lizzie smiled._

_She quickly left the room, but apparently Caroline couldn't wait till she was out of the room and out of hearing distance to bitch about her outfit._

"_Did you see what she was wearing? Honestly Charlie, you have to stop letting people that her into the house. Next thing you people will think this is a charity house and all the hobos on the street will be on our doorstep." _

_Gee. Caroline Bingley was such a kind and generous person._

CHAPTER FIVE

Lizzie immediately regretted not asking for Charlie to help her around the house.

Okay, so the inside of the house was just as big as the outside looked. Lizzie actually hoped that it was smaller than it looked, but she didn't know there would be a billion rooms on the second floor. She didn't want to snoop through all of them, after all, if Caroline saw, she might mistaken her as a homeless person and call the police.

Lizzie seriously wouldn't put it past her to do that.

_Wait. Did Charlie say second floor or third floor? _

"Gahh! Why do these houses have so many floors and rooms?" Lizzie said, frustrated, gesturing wildly.

"Are you lost?" A very amused voice called out from behind her.

She turned around to find William Darcy standing there, leaning against the wall.

_Great. Now he thinks I'm insane. _Lizzie thought, assuming he probably saw her gesturing like a maniac.

"No, I am not lost." Lizzie said, too stubborn to admit it. "I'm merely admiring the rooms."

"You're standing in front of a bathroom."

"I like bathrooms. They're essential for daily life."

Will snorted. "You're lost, admit it."

"Okay. I'm lost." Lizzie admitted. "I have no sense of direction and I'm not very good with directions either."

Will laughed. "You're on the wrong floor."

"Oops."

Will led her up the stairs and pointed towards Jane's room. He even waited till she was safely inside the room before turning and leaving. Lizzie was really thankful for that, for she would've probably thought he pointed to the wrong room and found herself in another bathroom. Which wouldn't surprise her, knowing the size of the house, there were probably 20 bathrooms.

"Janie?" She whispered.

"Lizzie!" Jane said.

"You sound good." Lizzie said, sliding onto the bed.

"I feel a lot better. Charlie's been taking care of me."

"That's good." Lizzie said, patting her sister's head. "I brought you the necessities."

"Thanks Lizzie. You're an angel."

"And so is Bingley, right?" Lizzie teased.

"He's wonderful! He's so sweet. I was afraid I'd throw up on him."

"I bet he even thinks you throwing up is cute."

"Lizzie!"

"You know, I think he's very nice too. I approve." Lizzie nodded.

"Thanks Lizzie, that means a lot. I really like him."

"I can tell! And by the way he looks at you and talks about you, he does too!" Lizzie assured her.

"Really? You think so?"

"I really do."

_____

Lizzie left her sister's room after she fell asleep again and crept downstairs. She was planning on returning back to the dorm, but was stopped by Charlie outside the living room.

"You're leaving already?"

"Yea."

"Do you have class tomorrow?"

"Not until the afternoon." Lizzie replied.

"Why don't you stay? I'm sure Jane would love it if you stayed."

"Oh no, I shouldn't. I don't want to be a pain in the ass."

Caroline mumbled something in the living room, which sounded like "You already are."

Lizzie really wanted to stick her tongue out at her. Yup, Lizzie was a really mature adult.

"You won't be. I have plenty of extra rooms."

"I know." Lizzie said. "I got lost." She laughed.

"Will can take you back tomorrow, and I'm sure Caroline wouldn't mind you borrowing some of her clothes."

Lizzie looked over into the living room at Will and Caroline. Will was stoic and typing away at his computer, while Caroline was, no surprise there, leaning on Will, glaring up at Lizzie.

"I guess I'll stay." She agreed finally, knowing that Charlie would probably never let it go until she agreed.

"Great. Why don't you come into the living room with us?"

Lizzie nodded and followed reluctantly. She's going to be in a room with Caroline, who probably doesn't like her, (Lizzie didn't worry about that, it was mutual), William Darcy, who would, based on his past behaviors, be talking in monosyllables because Caroline was around, and Charlie, who would probably be trying to lighten the tension in the room.

Why wouldn't she be excited?

Thank God the room had a shelf of books; Lizzie quickly went over and grabbed the first book that she recognized, thankfully it was something she enjoyed. It was Dante's _Inferno_, and although she wouldn't spend a whole afternoon rereading the book, she thought it was quite funny.

Will raised an eyebrow at her when he saw the title of the book. "The _Inferno_?" He questioned.

Lizzie shrugged. "I read it last year in my literature class. I kind of liked it."

"Why would you read about a fire?" Caroline asked, as if Lizzie was insane for wanting to read Dante's Divine Comedy.

Lizzie ignored her again. "I thought it was funny."

"How so?" Will asked. "Most students don't jump in excitement about reading Dante."

"I think it's hilarious how whenever Dante doesn't know how to explain things, he just faints, and all of a sudden his problem is miraculously solved! Don't you sometimes wish that you could do that whenever you have a problem? Just swoon and then everything will be alright?"

Will nodded.

"And the whole _Inferno _is so anticlimactic. You build up all the way through the circles and then you reach the 9th circle, and the coolest thing that happens is that Vergil does some sort of backflip off of Satan."

"My Will! How fast you type!" Caroline interrupted, causing both of them to turn their heads towards Caroline.

"You're quite mistaken, I type very slowly."

"Nonsense! I've never seen such a fast typer!"

"I agree Will. You should definitely try out for the world championships for Typing Speed." Lizzie said, causing Charlie, who had been listening to their conversation intently in the corner, to laugh.

"You would definitely win." Caroline said, obviously not getting the sarcasm.

_She and Collins would be perfect for each other._ Lizzie thought.

"What are you typing?" Caroline asked.

"I'm writing an email to Georgie."

"Oh Georgiana! I absolutely _adore _her. Please tell her that I miss her _terribly._"

Will made no attempt to acknowledge her comment.

"Georgiana is _so _accomplished. She's so proficient in the arts and gets such wonderful grades. I am so proud of her. It seems like she's following in my footsteps."

Lizzie snorted loudly.

"And she has such a beautiful voice." Caroline continued to praise Darcy's sister. "Do you sing, Eliza?"

"I used to." Lizzie mumbled.

"It's alright." Caroline said with false sympathy. "Not everyone has the gift of song. I'm sure you have… other talents."

Lizzie rolled her eyes.

"Actually, she sings quite wonderfully from what I hear." Charlie said, causing Caroline to throw a glare towards her brother.

"She is. Quite wonderful, I mean." Will said. "From the few verses that I heard her sing." Caroline threw him a look that said "How could you defend this girl?"

Lizzie turned red at the compliments, but apparently Caroline hates not being the center of attention, for she proceeded to interrupt once again. "Eliza, I'm so terribly bored. Why don't you come with me and let's walk around the room. It's good to stretch out after staying seated for so long. It ruins your posture, and darling, you wouldn't want to ruin it even more."

Lizzie gritted her teeth. "Why thank you for you wonderful _advice_, Caroline, but I think I'll-" Lizzie was rudely interrupted and dragged up from the couch against her will.

"Isn't it refreshing?"

"Yes, positively refreshing." Lizzie said sarcastically.

"Won't you join us William?" She asked.

"I'd rather not."

Lizzie gave him a look that definitely read "Save me."

"Why ever not, William?" Caroline asked, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously.

Lizzie turned her head away from Caroline towards Charlie and proceeded to imitate Caroline behind her back. When a loud peal laughter came from Charlie, Lizzie whipped her head around and smiled sweetly at Caroline, who sneered back, as if she and Charlie had interrupted some extremely _stimulating _and _intellectual _conversation with Will.

Upon seeing Caroline's glare, Charlie quickly covered up his laugh with a cough. Oh yea, Lizzie definitely liked this guy.

"You know, Eliza. Georgiana is William's sister. I'm sure he's already told you about her."

"Actually, he hasn't." Lizzie replied, knowing Caroline just loved the fact that she knew something that she didn't. Especially since it involved Will.

"Oh? Really? Well she's everything an accomplished woman would be. She's well versed and artistic. She's graceful too." Caroline let go of Lizzie's arm so she could prance around the room by herself, as if she was giving evidence of her 'apparent prima ballerina gracefulness.' Lizzie quickly sat down.

"Don't you agree, William?" Caroline continued.

"I agree. Georgiana has had many accomplishments." Will said, pride evident in his tone.

"There are so few accomplished women out there." Caroline sighed, as if it were the most tragic crisis in the world.

Lizzie raised an eyebrow. "Accomplished? What's your definition of accomplished?" Lizzie was immediately sorry that she had asked.

"Well," Caroline began, "She has to be intelligent and have an air of grace around her. She has to have talent in music and have a degree of some sort."

Lizzie snorted. Somehow she doubted Caroline had a degree in biochemical engineering.

Once again, she heard a loud laugh from Charles. _Did I just say that out loud? Shoot._

She looked over at Caroline, who still continued to list off accomplishments. _I guess not. _But when she looked at Will, he had his fist clenched together and his shoulders were shaking, as if he were… trying not to laugh.

_Oops. _

Although Lizzie didn't really feel that bad about it.

"… and of course she has to fluent in at least one language other than English." Caroline finally finished with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Bravo." Lizzie clapped dully. "I feel so enlightened now."

"You're very welcome Eliza, darling. Are you fluent in any languages?" Caroline challenged.

Lizzie smirked. "As a matter of fact, I am."

Caroline raised an eyebrow. "Care to elaborate? And by the way, knowing how to count to ten in a language does not mean you're fluent."

"Thank you very much Ms. Walking Dictionary, but I already knew that. I know Spanish, French, Chinese, and a little bit of Latin."

Caroline stared at her, eyes wide and mouth open.

"How'd you learn so many languages?" Charlie asked.

"My family and I used to take us around the world in the summer. I was the only one, besides my father, who bothered to learn the languages, since many places that we went to spoke English, but I thought it was interesting." Lizzie shrugged.

"So you've gone to _Paris_?" Caroline asked.

"Duh. Paris _is _in France, Caroline."

"Well, I've been there to _model_. I've met so many famous designers. I had such a wonderful time."

"How exciting." Lizzie said, faking a yawn.

"Isn't it, Wiliam?" Caroline asked sweetly.

Darcy merely grunted and resumed typing.

The room turned quiet again, and Lizzie continued reading her book. She really wished that she could faint right now and be back in her dorm, just like Dante, but she was pretty sure that wouldn't happen.

Caroline kept coughing every few minutes, as if wanting to start up a conversation but couldn't think of something that would even be remotely interesting.

Charlie had whipped out his laptop and started working.

Will was still typing away on his.

And Lizzie was bored out of her mind.

Finally, Lizzie excused herself, asking Charlie to give her directions to her room. She quickly bid them goodnight and went up the stairs, leaving the awkward room behind her.

She didn't get lost this time.

____

Lizzie got up early the next day, hoping that someone would be up early to give her a ride. And seeing that there weren't very many visitors to the mansion, there probably wouldn't be any taxis around here.

She crept downstairs, but didn't see anyone.

_Darn it._

So she was here until someone woke up and could take her back to her dorm, but seeing as it was seven o'clock, she'd probably have a while. Normal people didn't get up that early unless they had to.

She went into the living room and slowly perused the selections in Charlie's library. It was surprising how many books were there. She cringed as she came upon _A Tale of Two Cities. _It had been a very good book, but all the entertainment in reading was gone once they had thoroughly dissected the book in her lit class.

She saw another familiar name, and almost laughed out loud. A whole row of the _Twilight _series was among the collection of books in Charlie's library. She doubted it belonged to Charlie, as he didn't seem like the type who would swoon over the thought of the 'shiny' vampire, but hey, who knows? Lizzie was pretty sure it belonged to Caroline, but knowing Caroline, she only bought the books so that she could point out to her friends that she was a 'devoted fan' and had read the whole series.

She took the first book off the shelf, finding that she was right about her judgment. The book had never been opened, and it still had the 'new book smell' that Lizzie loved the most. Perhaps it was this smell that somehow compelled Lizzie to take the book and go onto the porch and read. After all, on any normal day, Lizzie would've never read _Twilight_. She'd heard enough about it from her sisters at home, something about a glowing, vegetarian vampire didn't work for Lizzie's taste.

Still, despite her bad opinions about the book already, she still decided to tackle reading it anyways. Besides, what else could she do? All her homework and stuff were still in her dorm.

Lizzie found herself cracking up while reading the book, unable to hold in her laughter. She wouldn't be surprised if she woke up the whole house, but the book was so _damn _funny.

And the masochistic vampire who just so happens to fall in love with the weakest looking human ever? This was too good.

"I would've never guessed you as a _Twilight _fan."

Lizzie's laughter abruptly stopped as she jumped from the shock. "You scared me. Who are you, Edward Cullen? Appearing out of nowhere?"

Will frowned. "I should hope I'm not Edward Cullen."

"What, you don't want girls to be giggling over the mention of your name?"

"I don't want to be a glittery vampire that can't seem to get over the fact that he wants to _eat _his girlfriend."

"So you've read it before?" Lizzie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"N-No." Will sputtered.

"Oh really? Then how do you know about the glittery vampire?" Lizzie challenged.

Will opened his mouth, but closed it again.

Lizzie smirked. "It's alright Will. I won't tell anyone of your Edward Cullen fetish."

"Hey! My sister made me read it." He defended.

"Sure." Lizzie replied, resuming her reading.

It was silent for a while, and Lizzie giggled a few times, causing Will to look over at her questioningly.

"My sister really did force me to read it." Will said suddenly.

"I believe you." Lizzie said. "But you know, this guy kind of reminds me of you, in a non-sparkly kind of way."

Will raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I want to know."

"Well," Lizzie continued, "Edward glared at Bella when he first met her, as if he hated her." She looked at Will pointedly.

Will groaned. "You're never going to let that go, are you?"

"Nope." Lizzie chirped. "Don't worry, I still make fun of Chase about the incident in sixth grade."

"What'd you do?"

"This girl he liked was sitting next to him at lunch one day, and so I cracked one of my jokes, made him laugh, and the jello he was eating came out of his nose."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me."

"And the jello got onto the girl's shirt." Lizzie added.

Will wrinkled his nose. "I'm not sure I want breakfast anymore."

"Aw, Will, don't be such a girl. You know, breakfast sounds pretty good right now."

"Well, I don't think Charlie or Caroline's going to up for a while. Caroline needs her beauty sleep. And Charlie was up talking with Jane again." Lizzie heard Will's tone go flat at the end, but maybe she was just imagining things. "So I guess I can take you back to your dorm and we can grab breakfast on the way."

"There's this really good café I know." Lizzie suggested. "And it has coffee. Good coffee."

Will nodded, while helping her up and opening the door for her.

"Is this your way for making it up to me for being mean?"

"I thought I was forgiven."

"That's what you think." Lizzie tried to say seriously, but couldn't help the smile that was showing on her face.

______

A/N: I hope you liked that chapter!

The whole _Inferno _part was from my Humanities class that I'm taking this year. We just recently finished reading it.

As for the _Twilight _part, I'm not against the series; I've actually read all four of the books, actually. I just think it's ridiculous how people swoon over a fictional character. So I'm not a _Twilight _hater!

So that's chapter five. Please send me a review! That'd be great!

-CCC


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